The Wild Cards
by MidnightFedora
Summary: Jack Napier is the knew kid at Gotham High, and he's ready to claim his normal title as school loner. Turns out that someone else has already beat him to it, and he'll soon find out that he's not the only wild card who's ready to watch the world burn. Jack/OC.
1. Prologue

**AN: Hello there! This is my first published writing ever for anything what-so-ever. **

**Usually when people write about the Joker's past and there is a girlfriend of some sort, the girl almost always follows the rules, is scared easily, doesn't want to get their hands dirty, ect. ect. I've decided to write a story where the girl is the opposite of that. This story will eventually lead into a post TDKR sequel.  
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**Disclaimer: Midnight does not own Batman, or any related items. Astral Miess is a purely fanfictionial character.  
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**Prologue**

There were kids everywhere, cheerleaders, dancers, actors, footballers, chess players, and probably a druggie or two somewhere in the mix. He didn't fit into any of these categories, but that was the usual. He had gotten used to not fitting in a long time ago. Not once in his life had he ever met another person like himself. Someone he could trust. Like the joker card in the deck, he mused. It has nothing to do with any of the other cards.

Today was his first day at his new school, but unlike other kids, he didn't really care about leaving his old one. He had never had any friends, or a real positive relation-ship for that matter. From the moment he went to school, he had been bullied, simply because he was different. He was used to it by now.

The bell rung, and everybody filed in through the front doors, chatting about whatever they had done on the weekend, or about how they had or had not finished the due in assignments. Going in after them, he pulled out his map of the building and had a look at his current positioning compared to where he needed to go, and made his way to his home room.

"Alright, today we've got a new student joining our class. Would you care to introduce yourself?" The teacher asked. He had learned earlier that his name was Mr Friston. He had slicked back brown hair, green eyes, glasses, and was somewhere in his thirties. Mr Friston looked expectantly at him, awaiting his answer.

"No, I don't care to, really." He replied, keeping his head down so no one could see his face. Not Yet.

"As much as the class appreciates the humour, we don't have time for messing around at the moment. There is a lesson that we need to get on with. So, introduce yourself please."

He sighed, and pulled his hoodie to make sure his face was hidden. "My name is Jack Napier, I'm in year eight. I moved to Gotham from New York. You have no reason to need any more information."

"Thank you, Jack, there is only one free seat at the moment, next to the one at the very back right hand corner. That seat has been taken by one student who has yet to show up today. Please, be seated, so I can then call out the role."

The other students held back frightened gasps and snickers at something the teacher had said, most likely whoever he had been seated next to. To be honest, Jack didn't care. He pulled the hood over his face further, and then walked around the edge of the room to make sure that no one saw his face. Not. Yet.

He sat down, pulling out a book and drawing some random cartoons, waiting for the teacher to finish calling out the role.

The teacher audibly gulped, before calling out the next name. "A-astral Miess?"

Jack thought that it was pretty funny, how a fully grown man sounded afraid just from saying a name. He looked up discretely, wondering who this person was. He noticed that everybody looked uncomfortable to some degree, most of them jumping when a soft voice shattered the silence.

"Here." Said a female's voice. The source of the voice was a girl who wore a loose purple tank top, black skinny jeans, and a fedora that was pulled down to cover her eyes. Her hair was long and black, a natural wave pulling it around to frame her face in such a way that it covered the sides of her head, allowing only a small gap between it and the corner of her mouth. She wore black converse and fingerless gloves.

"Please take a seat, Astral." As she made her way to the seat next to him, the other people that she walked past on the way moved as far away as they could from her, doing their best to not catch her attention or touch her. Astral purposely brushed past a timid looking boy that sat in front of Jack, and the boy tensed up and stated shaking. At this, Jack heard Astral let out a slight chuckle. He immediately knew that this girl could not fit into any of the categories that Jack had thought of earlier, or any others that he could think of for that matter. Except... maybe one. If she did fit into that group, then this year would be very interesting.

Astral took a seat and glanced up at him for a second before pulling something out of her bag. Jack would have had a closer look, out of curiosity, but he kept his head down in favour of hiding his face. For some reason, Astral seemed to be hiding the side of her face that was facing away from him, using her hair and hat.

"Could you please remove your hat, Astral? I'd prefer that you didn't wear it while inside." The teacher asked, somewhat nervously.

"Yeah, Miess, take off the hat! Or have you got something to hide? You shouldn't be afraid of people thinking that you are a freak, 'cause it's waaaaay too late to go back on that." Sneered the kid sitting in front on Astral. Jack had a feeling that this kid was really, really stupid.

"You know the funny thing about that, Sammy? The only thing I would have to hide is my laughter when you scream like a little girl when you see my face." She replied simply. "I'm _trying_ to be nice though, and not embarrass you in front of your imaginary friend. Not to mention that you can't have any chance of catching up on all that work if you faint from the fear that you would feel." She finished. Jack himself had to hide his laughter at that.

"And since I have nothing to hide, then I guess I'll take off my hat. I'm sure that everybody would just be _dying_ to make some smart comments on my newest little mark."

Astral then took the hat off and brushed her hair aside, turning her head so the class could see her '_little'_ mark. It was anything but little. A thin scar ran from under her left eye, curving across her cheek and down the side to her and jaw line. It was obviously quite recent as well as deep, because it was stitched up and very red around the cut itself. The majority of the class visibly flinched when they saw this. Jack could guess that nothing good could come from messing with Astral after she's been through something bad recently. How did he know this?

Between the people's reactions to Astral and the look that is in her eye, Jack could tell that this person was very similar to himself. A wild card.

"Bah! What did I tell you? Freak!" 'Sammy' yelled, quite startled. Jack lifted his head and cleared his throat.

"At least _'freaks'_ are interesting. Not like all you boring people."

Everyone quickly turned their heads to look at Jack. And they all gaped like fish out of water.

And why wouldn't they?

He did have a permanent smile carved into his face, after all.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Thank to the people who reviewed, It honestly made my day! I apologize for not updating yesterday.  
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**Grey: Thanks, sis. Can't wait for you to upload some stories of your own.  
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**Teacupful: Thank you for pointing that out. I have done my best to make her a little less Mary Sue in this chapter.  
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**LittlebittyyPrincesskiller: Thank you! I really like your story, too. It's one of the ones that I always keep tabs on, so I know when it updates. There won't be any explosions in this, at least for a little while.  
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**MissBellatrixx24: Glad to know that you like this. I will do my best to keep working on this to the end!  
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**Disclaimer: Midnight does not own Batman or anything to do with it!  
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**Chapter 1**

The first few classes had gone by quite boringly, with everyone swerving around Jack in wide arcs, avoiding him at all costs. He had yet to talk directly to Astral, which he was hoping to do at lunch.

Leaving English, he checked his map to find the cafeteria, making his way there when he found it. The cafeteria was packed, with most people lining up to grab a tray and buy some food from the school, though several people had their own lunch. Jack grabbed his small amount of money and joined the line, looking around to see if he could spot Astral among the other students. She was over in the very far corner, and there was a wide gap between her and everybody else.

Taking his lunch, Jack made his way over to Astral, while everyone turned their nose up at him in disgust. He wore a torn pair of loose black jeans, a slightly too big bright green t-shirt covered by a dark green hooded jacket (currently un-zipped), and had jaw length, curly dirty blond hair, and dark brown eyes.

Now that he wasn't trying to hide his face, Jack could clearly see that Astral's black fedora (now back on her head) had a very dark red ribbon around the base. The gloves that she wore had an intricate large star in bright red, purple and white on the back. Her hair came down low on her back, but not quite at the bottom. She seemed understandably on edge, with her bright brown/hazel, almost gold eyes, shifting up from her food and book to dart around the room. Her jaw was sharp, yet still had a distinctly feminine curve. At a closer look, the scar made it look like she was crying, originating almost at the eye itself. Quite the opposite from his own grin.

"Mind if I take a seat, Astral?" Jack said casually, knowing that people like her were very short tempered. Astral looked up, with a slight mixture of confusion and shock showing only in her eyes, which then changed to recognition.

"Why?" She replied sharply, looking quite tense.

"No one ever wanted to sit with you, Astral?" Jack chuckled.

"No, and I would really prefer that you didn't." She muttered quietly.

Jack sat down any way, setting his tray down and taking a bite of his apple. Astral had some sort of fancy lunch, but it was packed in a regular brown paper bag.

"If you insist on sitting with me, then… I never really got your name..." Astral said awkwardly, not being one for making conversation.

"Jack Napier." He told her. After she nodded, Jack continued to talk, seeing that Astral was having difficulties at doing so comfortably. "So, what do you think of the other students at this school?"

"They are really annoying."

"Just a little bit. There was a kid at one of my old schools who pestered me all the time, _just_ because it annoyed me. I know how to ignore annoying people, but this guy did it almost 24/7." As Jack said this, Astral pulled out the same thing that Jack had seen her pull out earlier, which on closer inspection appeared to be a deck of playing cards. She went through and pulled the two jokers out, then shuffled it quickly in several different ways before setting it up for solitaire.

"One of your old schools? How many schools have to been to?" Astral asked off-headedly, focusing on finding a spot for the three of diamonds that she held in her hands. "You don't seem to be the type of kid who would move schools because your dad moved work." She finally just out the card back where she got it, and looked for a different one to move.

"That may have happened once or twice, but as for how many schools and why, that's for _me_ to know and for _you_ to find out." Jack said, smirking at the look of irritation that crossed Astral's face. He then proceeded to lean back on his chair and prop his feet up on the table.

"So why are you even talking to me anyways?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Because you seem to be a lot like me in some ways. You stand out, and _they_ " He waved his hand around, indicating the other people. "don't like it, so they call you a freak. Make sure that you know that you don't belong, with you finishing the picture by separating them from you. That's pretty much my life story." Jack stated

"You are _nothing_ like me. You could _never_ understand what it's like to be in my position." She spat. Jack had a feeling that there was more to her then just a little school bulling.

"Maybe I do. I can tell that you're not like this just because someone said a couple of things that you didn't like. "

"Oh, _really_ now? And what do you think happened for me to feel the way I do?"

"I don't know, but I will find out." Jack stated firmly.

"Yay, now I get to deal with someone snooping around, trying to figure me out." Astral cheered sarcastically.

"Glad to hear that you're so enthusiastic, Princess." Jack chuckled.

"How fun. Now I get a nickname too." She stated dryly.

"Fun is one of my middle names." He said, smirking.

"Is stupid another one of them?" Astral asked with fake innocence, moving around a couple of cards.

"I may fail all my classes, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid, by any means." He stated.

"Could have fooled me."

"And here I was thinking that you don't seem to be the type of person that was easily fooled."

Astral shoulders slumped in defeat, and she then sighed as she realised that the game of solitaire was blocked.

"Move the seven of hearts from the eight of clubs, to the eight of spades. Then you can move the eight of clubs onto the seven of clubs. That frees up a new card." Astral's eyes widened slightly, realising that he was right. She quickly moved the cards about, and then continued until the game was done. It had turned out that the card that was freed up was just the one that was needed to win the game.

"How did you manage to figure that one out?" Astral muttered quietly, picking up all the cards again and shuffling them.

"I know a thing or two about card games. I like to play them in my spare time." Jack told her.

"I collect decks of playing cards… I think that I've got around twenty five. I'm not the best at any of the playing games that I've played" Astral explained.

Jack whistled. "That's a few. Have you played poker before?"

"No, I haven't even thought about learning it before."

"Guess I'll have to teach you sometime then." Jack offered.

"...Sure, why not." Astral said, accepting the offer.

At that point the bell rung and all the kids who hadn't left the cafeteria earlier were now making their way out and back to their classes. Jack stood up and turned to Astral.

"See you around, Princess." Jack said, laughing when he heard Astral fuming behind him as he walked off.

Jack would _definitely_ be talking to her again.


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you every body! Once again, your review made my day, and I'm also really sorry for not getting this up sooner. Due to the beginning of school, the updates won't be as often as I would like, but I will still do my best to update when ever I can!  
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**I feel that Jack is a little OOC in the first part of this, but I think that it got a bit better towards the end.**

**Grey Desire's Thunder: What do you mean by element?  
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**LittlebittyyPrincesskiller: I'll make sure to update as often as possible, then.**

**Redpony: Thank you! And Astral does try her best.**

**Disclaimer: Midnight does not own TDK!**

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**Chapter 2**

Astral was woken up harshly by the relentless beeping of her expensive alarm clock, at the ridiculous hour of 5:30 am. At least, she thought it was horrible, but she also knew that it was the latest that she was able to get up if she wanted to avoid her mother. It was Tuesday, and Astral wasn't sure whether or not to look forward to school or dread it. The Jack kid that she had been talking with yesterday seemed annoying, just like everybody else, but he was the only person near her age that had been able to talk to her so… _normally_ for quite some time.

Realising that she was wasting time, she went to scramble out from the mass of covers and over to her bedside table to shut off the alarm, knowing that breaking it was not an option, but instead she ended up tripping face first onto the carpet. With her legs still up on the bed and tangled in the sheets.

After finally getting up properly, Astral went over to her walk in closet, to choose out what she was going to wear today, and decided to go with some a combination of red, orange and gold.

She changed into an orange tank top and a red pair of jeans. She put on a red and white pair of converse, and then her normal fingerless gloves. Astral took a look outside and realised that it was going to be a cold day. She took out a black leather jacket to cover her arms.

After doing this, she went over into the large en-suite and took out her make-up. Though a lot of people would normally have a shower in the mornings, Astral didn't have enough time to get ready for school and then to school before her mother wakes up, as well as to get up at a reasonable time. She didn't really care about her looks either, but pinned her hair back and used the make-up to cover up any bruises that she had acquired, as well as to make her look like she did have a little bit of money.

The Miess family was one of the richest families in Gotham, and Astral really hated it. It was one of the reasons that the bullying had started, because the Miess' were known for being one of the more 'snobbier' families. That was really only her mom, though. Her dad had been a kind gentleman, always giving only the best to her daughter, and giving money to the more poor and unfortunate.

Astral knew that it was best that she kept a façade of being at least a little bit rich, but she was a girl who liked to get her hands dirty, and _hell_ would fall down if she was found running around in some stupid and expensive dress. Jeans and a tank top would be just fine, thanks.

Walking over to a hook above her bed, Astral took her beloved fedora off it and carefully undid the scarlet coloured ribbon that was looped around the bottom. The hat had been a gift from her dad, after she had gone on about how much she wanted one. While her mother had told her that the hat was a 'disgusting piece of trash' her Father had given to her on her tenth birthday with a smile. Back then it had been a little bit big, but now it fit much more comfortably. Happy with only having one hat, Astral had ended up buying ribbons and adjusting them so she could add in some colour.

Choosing to do a gold ribbon, she pulled out the box and out away the red one, taking out a gold one and wrapping it around the hat.

The rest of the morning consisted of packing the books she would need and grabbing whatever she could for lunch. Taking an apple, she slung her bag over her shoulders and made a dash for the door, pushing it open and letting it close silently behind her thanks to some rubber strips. Then begun the jog to school.

Gotham High School was somewhere between the edge and the middle of the city, and it took a while for Astral to get there, but she always ended up with plenty of time to spare. She was by no means un-fit, but instead a little bit on the skinny side from not eating much and jogging to school and back from Monday to Friday. You would think that as one of the richest kids in Gotham, she would have some sort of special ride to school, or perhaps she would go to a private school at least, like the Wayne kid, but Astral was happy to run to school every morning, and enjoyed the feeling of not having to act rich.

At school, she was bullied, but Astral was very good at taking it and even giving it back. All the kids at school were either afraid of her, hated her, or just plain ignored her. That was perfectly fine with her. The new kid, Jack what's-his-face, was a completely different type of person from any others that she had dealt with, and it was hard to hold onto any mask she put on when he had talked to her. Astral felt that he could see straight through them, anyway.

Finally seeing the front gates of the school, Astral slowed her pace right down, knowing that she wouldn't have to do much for about half an hour. This gave her a chance to go over to the tall oak tree that was in on the edge of the manmade football field. Only to find that someone else was already there. Someone who was wearing a very familiar dark green hoodie.

_Ugh. _

"Of course… out of all the people that happen to be here as the same time of me, it has to be _him_." Astral muttered, knowing that he would spot her soon now and would go over to her if she turned and walked away.

Astral trudged over to Jack, deciding to just get it over and done with. At the sound of footsteps drawing near, Jack lifted up his head and then smirked at who was approaching.

"Did the Princess miss me?" Jack chuckled, leaning back on the trunk of the tree.

"Not on your life." Astral snapped in response. She also leaned up against the tree, but made sure there was a good amount of room between the two.

"So Princess, what bring you around the school at this time in the morning?" Jack asked casually, acting as if they were old friends.

"Nothing that you need to bother yourself with, but if you _must_ know, I come here every morning to get away from my mother." Astral told him, having a feeling that he would find out anyway, even if she didn't say anything.

"Family troubles? I know how you feel. I came so I didn't have to deal with my dad." Jack said, grimacing at the mention of his parent. "I found out yesterday afternoon that you're rich. You wouldn't know it without seeing your last name in a newspaper."

"Good. I hate people who throw their money around like birdseed, it's disgusting. That's what my mother does. It's really all she cares about, and it wouldn't surprise me if she had a hand in my father's death. When he died she got _heaps_ of money. _Why_ he even married her, I'll never know." Astral said, growling at the thought of her mother.

"Is that the _only_ reason that you hate her so much?" Jack inquired, obviously seeing more to the story.

"Why would you care?" Astral snarled, getting defensive.

"Because no matter what you do to hide it, people can see that there is _something_ else going on."

Astral's shifted from side to side nervously, obviously not feeling comfortable with the situation. She then closed her eyes and titled her head downwards. "To the rest of society, my mother is a sophisticated woman, completely civilised and well mannered. She does throw money around a lot, though, and can be a bit snobbish…but behind closed doors...She's horrible."

"S-she hits me if I step out of line… She doesn't care about me at all…" She said in a shaky voice. "I can barely breathe around her. One wrong move and I'm on the ground with a red mark on my face."

"And…You're the only person that I've told…" She finished.

Jack nodded, then suddenly looked up and said, "Why does the skeleton go to the party alone?'

Astral just looked up at him with a face that clearly stated 'are you kidding me?' Sighing, she gave in. "Why?"

"Because he had no body to go with him!" Jack let out a roar of laughter, not only at the joke he had just made, but the look on Astral's face was just too priceless. She was attempting to scowl at him for making a joke when he was telling him one of the darkest secrets she has, but the corner of her lips was threatening to twitch up into a smile.

In the end, Astral just turned her back to him and muttered something about horrible jokes and a quiet "Clown boy." Before stalking off to make her way to home room, just as the bell to begin the day rung.

"Wait up Princess; you can't expect to just be able to ignore me now, can you?" He smirked, catching up with her.

"I can. I really can."

"You can't. You _really_ can'_t_." Jack told her, but it sounded more like a promise. "Looks like you're going to have to get used to me, Princess."

"Oh joy, I cannot wait to spend my time in your presence." She said, voice dripping in sarcasm.

But behind the sarcasm, Astral knew that in a way, they were somehow friends after only a day of knowing each other.

"Told you I'd figure you out, Princess." Jack chuckled as an afterthought.

This was going to be one _long_ year.


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Here you go, guys! I need to tell you that as soon as homework shows its face, there is going to have to be a break between updates where I figure out the best option for getting the chapters written. I'm sorry about that. On other subjects, something a little bit exciting will happen in the next chapter, so you can look forward to that. There will probably be no 'romance' until at least the tenth chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Midnight does not own The Dark Knight.  
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**Chapter 3**

The rest of Wednesday as well as Thursday had gone by being mostly un-eventful, with Astral getting used to Jack's presence and Jack making a ridiculous amount of jokes, only a few of them being good ones. Every now and then, Astral would actually have a small laugh at one, and Jack would then make a bad one again, which would just end with Astral raising an eyebrow at him.

To the rest of the school, the two of them became known as The Freak Show, with the whispering behind their backs getting harsher, and some people making more fun of them, bumping into them in the halls and attempting to trip them over when they walked past.

Siting in home room, Astral was shuffling her cards when Jack tapped her shoulder a couple of times. She looked over at him, mouthing 'what?'. Jack chucked a small ball of paper at her, then turned back to pretend to do his work.

'Meet at the oak tree after school' His writing was almost chicken scratch, barely illegible, but just enough for her to read it. She really had no idea why Jack wanted to meet behind the tree, but it must be important for him to talk to her in secret.

Later, Astral grabbed her bag and started making her way towards the doors to the oval. She was wearing a blue tank top and a pair of bark blue jeans. The ribbon on her hat was a royal blue and she wore her black converse, jacket and gloves.

"Hey Miess! Where's your boyfriend? You might have to cancel the performance if he doesn't show up!" A boy named Dylan called from behind her, with his group, including Sam, or 'Sammy'. They were the worst of the people who gave Jack and Astral a hard time, but luckily Dylan wasn't in their class. Astral just kept on walking, ignoring the group completely.

"But isn't there a saying, 'the show must go on'?" Said one of the dumber members of the group. This was rewarded with a hit to the back of the head, causing Astral to let out a snigger.

"Something funny Miess?" Growled Dylan.

"Many things, Dylan, _many_ things." _'like your face' _" I _would_ list them all, but I've got places to be and things to do, so I'm going to be on my way." With that, Astral turned her back on an angry Dylan and exited the building, making her way over to the tree, where she saw the almost camouflaged green hoodie of Jack, sitting up in the tree amongst the branches. She quickly dashed over and climbed up onto a near-by branch.

"Wow, Princess, you do know how to be fashionably late, don't you?" Jack chuckled, taking a bite of his apple.

"You know me, I have plenty of people that are just _dying_ to have a meeting with me. I can't please everybody, unfortunately." Astral shrugged, taking out a small tub of leftover Spaghetti Bolognese and a fork, finishing off what she didn't eat at lunch.

"Dylan again?"

"Yup." Astral confirmed through a mouth full of food, then swallowed and continued. "So why do you want to talk to me here instead of the cafeteria?"

"Because I can't have people finding out about my idea."

"What is your idea?" She asked suspiciously.

"I've always wanted to play prank at a rich persons party, but I've never had the chance or the… connections that I would need to do so." Jack said with an almost childish giddiness. He was really excited about this.

"So what do you want me to do? Throw a party so you can prank people?" Astral raised an eye-brow.

"No_p_e. Brucie-boy's fourteenth is on the weekend. I know that you'd be invited, so I was wondering if you could help me sneak in, then maybe… slip away for a little while to help me out." Jack smirked, his eyes glinting with excitement from the prospect of the idea. "My dad will be going out for the day for work, too. It will be perfect."

"Anything so I don't have to just stand around and try to look pretty." Astral told him, accepting immediately. She hated those parties. Not to mention the amount that she and Bruce got along was a total of zero. They hated each other.

"Great, Princess. Though you could stand there and look pretty, too. I've got something to do, see you later." With that Jack jumped down and walked away, hands in pocket.

'_Did he just… say I looked pretty?' _Astral raised an eye-brow at Jack's retreating figure, deciding that it wasn't worth the headache of trying to figure him out, and leaned back, remembering how she and Bruce Wayne came to detest each other.

_Flashback_

_A car pulled up outside of a mansion, and a grey haired man stepped out of the driver's side, opening the back door to let out an eleven year old Bruce Wayne. The two of them walked up to the front doors and knocked on the door, where a blond women opened up and smiled much to sweetly, stepping aside and letting them in. _

_Once in the foyer, the man, Alfred, told Bruce be safe and wait for him to come back later and pick him up. With a nod, Bruce asked the Woman where her Daughter was, wanting to meet someone his own age. After finding out, he went upstairs and knocked on a door, where a quite 'come in' was heard._

"_Hey." Bruce said, seeing a ten year old Astral sitting on her bed, playing cards. She looked up at him, her face emotionless._

"_Hello." She greeted quietly. She then looked down and went back to shuffling her cards._

"_Why do you shuffle cards?" Bruce asked, feeling awkward standing in silence._

"_Because it distracts me."_

"_From what?" Bruce was annoyingly curious._

"_It's none of your business." Astral snapped._

"_Is it because of your dad?" Bruce asked quietly._

"_What are you? A psychotherapist? It's none of your business!" Astral growled, slowly raising her voice._

"_Sorry for trying to make sure that you are okay then." Bruce snapped back, his anger rising as well._

"_I don't need your pity, nor you help, so just shut up!" She yelled._

"_Fine! I think I'm going to go spend time with your mother, because she obviously seems much nicer than you!" He shouted, leaving and slamming the door behind him._

_End Flashback._

After Bruce had left, her mother had come up and hit her a good couple of times, telling her that she was making a bad impression on the other rich families. It was the next Monday at school where Astral did the one thing that caused a good part of the school to fear her.

Sighing, Astral jumped down from the tree, putting away the now cold spaghetti. On her way home, Astral picked up some more ribbons for her hat, since the ones she had were getting old, as well as a new pair of black converse all stars. She also grabbed a new T-shirt that would look fancy, yet still allowed free movement for the night at the party. That was going to be _lots_ of fun.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: It has been way too long. I really have no reason for uploading this late besides being lazy. When I checked the reviews though, I actually realised that, yes, there are people who are reading this. And yes, there are people who actually enjoy reading this. And yes, I was keeping those people waiting. So I got writing. Sorry that it took so long.**

**Figg: Trying to fix that. 'Nuff said.**

**MissBellatrixxx24: I'm really sorry! Hehe, I'm learning french.**

**Scrambled-Dry: I'll try and do better for updates in the future. Glad to know that you like it. :)**

** ReynaRed: Here it is!**

**And thank you to CloudyDream for your feedback. It's nice to receive some constructive criticism that actually helps me improve my writing. I have taken into account what you said and attempted to put it to good use in this chapter.**

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**Disclaimer: Midnight does not own Batman!**

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Chapter 4

The time for Bruce Wayne's fourteenth birthday had quickly come around, and Astral was standing around, waiting for her mother to catch up and get into the car. Somehow, Jack had gotten her phone number and contacted her, telling her how he was going to get in.

Ms Miess finally got in the car and the driver started making his way over to the Wayne manor. The whole time, Astral was going through possible scenarios and ways to get away from everybody else and open a window for Jack to climb through. Then the two of them would sneak around and play some pranks, then try to hold in their laughter as they watched a little bit of chaos unfold among the upper class men and women.

The driver got out of the car, then opened the door for Astral's mother, walking around afterwards to do the same for Astral, only to find her already out. She briskly turned and walked over to the front of the car, where she and her mother moved towards the front door of Wayne manor. They were greeted by a man at the door, who told them that they had a specific table fo r them at the back of the room. They made their way over, sitting down in a tense silence.

Astral casually glanced over to a clock, checking the time to see when she should find the window to let Jack in through. Soon some of her mother's friends arrived and she excused herself to go find some of her friends. It wasn't a full lie.

She was making her way over to a hall where she knew the bathroom was when a voice interrupted her.

"Astral." Bruce said stiffly. They still didn't get along. At all.

"Hello Brucie." Astral grinned casually_. 'Damn it, Jack's rubbing off on me'_

"How is your mother?" He continued, looking slightly irritated at the nick-name.

"She's fine, I guess. Why don't you go check for yourself?" Astral shrugged. " Oh, How's the party by the way? You look like you're having a _blast_." She added sarcastically.

"Maybe I will. It's fine, thank you. Goodbye." Then he walked away, acting all high and mighty.

'_Meh.'_ Astral had better things to do than think about him. She made her way to the bathroom, ignoring any stares that she got for her scar. She didn't care much to cover it up.

Her and Jack had organised to meet at this bathroom, where she would knock on the window then open it, and he would come out of hiding and climb through the window, seeing as they were on the first floor.

'_knock, knock, knock'_

She opened the window, pleases when it didn't squeak, and saw a familiar figure dart over and begin to haul himself through. She took the bag that he carried, and then helped him through.

"How is the _party_ going Princess?" Jack chuckled once he was through the window.

"You call a gathering of stuck up _snobs_ a party?" Astral replied.

"You must have missed my _sar_casm, Princess."

"Nope, I heard it loud and clear. What's with the bag?" Astral raised an eyebrow at the school bag that Jack had brought with him.

"It's my equipment. I'm not going to this job without the right tools, Doll." Jack stated as if it was obvious.

Ignoring the new nick-name, Astral went over to the door and put her ear up against it, trying to figure out if anybody was there. Not a sound. The two left the room and sneaked down the halls in to main room.

She heard a rustling as Jack pulled out something from the bag. A whoopee cushion. Her eye brows shot up before she grinned and motioned over to the table her mother sat at, her mother currently going over to get another glass of wine. The table was over in the corner of the room, where they could sneak under some tables and set up for the prank. They crouched down and skimmed around the edges of the room, where they ducked under some table cloths and got beside her mother's seat before she did and placed the cushion. They quickly made their getaway to a good place to watch.

'_Pffffffftttttt'_

Astral had to bite down her tongue and cover her mouth with her hand when her mother shot up out of the chair, face looking like a tomato in embarrassment. Some of her business friends looked shocked, some embarrassed, and others attempting to stifle their quiet giggles.

The rest of the evening was a laugh, with many people falling victim to the whims of two teens. They nearly got caught several times when they let out a small laugh.

Ducking around a corner, the two of the bumped into something- some_one_, who cleared their throat.

"I guess it's safe to assume that _you_ two are responsible for this afternoons little miss-haps, correct?" Said a stern, but slightly amused British voice.

Astral nervously glanced up at the face of Alfred Pennyworth_. 'Craaaaaaap.'_

"Uh, _maybe_." Jack answered the butler's question.

A look of horror must have crossed Astral's face, because her thoughts quickly turned form a nervous drawl to '_Ohshitohshitohshit'_

"I won't tell anyone, Ms Miess, but you might want to stop, and _you_, young man, might want to leave." Alfred suggested.

Astral composed herself and answered politely. "Very well, Mr Pennyworth. My mother will want to leave soon any way. I will see you at school, Jack. Just leave the same way you came in. Goodbye."

Astral turned and walked in the direction of her mother's table, unable to hide the slight bit of amusement that crossed her features. Jack hadn't gone back the same way that he came in. She looked over to Bruce's table to see Jack hiding nearby, grinning over at her.

She sat down, and a minute later, heard the sound of a whoopee cushion again, and a very embarrassed Bruce. _'Damn, we must have run out of other things.' _She looked over to see Jack sneaking back to the hall that lead to the nearest bathroom, and he looked over and winked at her, before leaving.

Turning her head, she also saw that Alfred was looking over at her, and she smiled sheepishly back. He just shook his head to himself and walked off.

"Astral, darling, did you hear me? Janet asked how school was going." It was her mother, pretending to care like she always did in public.

"It's going really well. Just _great_." Astral grinned over at her.

Just great indeed.

* * *

**Ran out of ideas for what to do to Bruce. Shame. I will have fun with what ever was bothering him later. *Evil grin***


	6. Chapter 5

**Getting straight to the story.**

**I don't own Batman.**

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The weekend's antics had put Astral in quite a good mood, and she could barely suppress a grin when she got to school- until she got to class, at least.

Why?

Because Jack wasn't there.

One week later, and she still hadn't seen him.

Two weeks later, and she was feeling oddly depressed. Not a single sighting of him.

It was at the end of the third week when she started to break down.

It was funny, really. She had sworn not to get close to anyone again. After her father's death, her life had started to crumble, but she did her best to cover it up with a face of stone and false bravery. She had built up walls to protect herself, yet Jack had managed to tear them down in the little time that she had known him. It made her feel weak, and she hated it, yet she couldn't bring herself to blame him, only to blame herself.

"_Aaagh_!" Astral dived onto her bed with a cry of frustration. She hated herself for how much she missed him! How weak she felt!

"That's it, if he apparently doesn't want to see me, then I'm going to find him! At least so I can give him a piece of my mind!" Her problem? She didn't have any means for finding him. She had no computer skills and no address or even area to work with. Slumping in defeat, she just unpacked her bag then walked out of the house to go for a walk, hoping that it would clear her head. Without paying attention, she easily got lost among the maze of buildings and found herself in the Narrows.

Her heart beat picked up the pace, as did her footsteps, and she quickly kept on checking over her shoulder. The minimal, in other words non-existent, fighting skills that she had wouldn't help her like they might in school, and her snappy attitude would probably make a person more angry than scared. She had only ever won one fight, but that was an experience that was best left in the dark.

The sounds of dunks and thugs echoed through the alley ways and made back-ground music for anyone who dared to walk the streets. Homeless people gathered around feebly burning drums and the poorer did their best to make do with the closely packed and run-down apartments. Soggy newspapers stuck to the thin road and garbage littered the dark streets, which were barely lit by the afternoon sun. The smell of rotting food and cigarettes assaulted one's nostrils.

The sounds of a fight and laughter were much quieter than the other sounds, but they were heard none-the-less. Astral knew that she should have gone in the opposite direction, but the voice of reason was ignored and she snuck closer.

She was closer now, and could hear the sounds of a fist hitting a body, and then laughter at the person's pain. She ducked down, and skittered closer, seeing that the fight was just around the corner.

She froze.

The colour was almost unrecognisable, but it didn't take long to figure out that it was dark green, just soaked in blood. She knew that hoodie anywhere. People were surrounding a figure that was on his hands and knees, doing his best to take each hit with no more than a whimper. The surrounding men were laughing at his pain, saying things like 'That will teach 'im!'.

_Jack_.

Jack was bleeding. He was hurt. Those men where the cause of his pain.

Her vision started getting blurry, but there weren't any tears.

Her head started throbbing, but it wasn't a head ache.

She stood up, and _they_ turned to her.

The people who hurt Jack.

_Her_ Jack.

"Look at this thing! Didn'tcha know that alleys are bad place, Girly?" They mocked.

Jack looked up at her. He was in pain. He was _hurt_.

_They_ walked over to her. Their fault. A man stood in front of her. He deserves to feel the same pain as Jack.

It's only _fair_.

She should make _him_ hurt.

She should kill him.

Her mind went blank.

Jack's POV

Why was she just standing there? She needs to run!

Jack's face was filled with a burning pain, but he couldn't pay attention to that. Only to the completely blank look that was on his only friends face. Something wasn't right.

The man's laughing was cut short as a feral snarl twisted Astral's features. Not Astral, but some animal that was in her body. She lunged forward and actually bit the man's neck, sinking her teeth in as much as she could. The other men ran forward with weapons and hit her to the floor, but the pain only made her angrier, and she literally fought tooth and claw against them, managing to do some damage, but barely enough. His gut twisted as a metal pole hit her in the side, and then a blade dug into her thigh. She collapsed to the ground, but forced herself up again, managing to dodge a hit or two, before she fell to the ground again.

A shot rang out.

A bullet hit her other leg and she fell over, a bloody heap, and the men in much better shape than her. Jack also collapsed to the ground, only just hearing the sirens on the edge of his conscious.

Astral POV

Astral decidedly didn't like beeping. Or metal poles for that matter… or guns…She really didn't like a variety of different objects. They hurt.

Why was she in hospital?

"…..aking up! Somebody get a Nurse in there!" The voice sounded much louder than necessary. She tried opening her eyes, but they were filled with gunk, and her throat had apparently had a sponge shoved down it, because it was dry and sore.

A cool glass was tipped against her lips as a hand helped her prop herself up. After a mouthful of water, she moved one of her stiff arms and went to rub her eyes, one of which was swollen.

"What happened…?" She finally managed to croak out. Her lip stung, and her thighs felt like someone had torn them open. Her arms ached, and were wrapped in bandages, with spots of red appearing in some areas. If she tried to move too much, her side would screech in protest.

"You and another kid were found in an alley by the police. Some guys were with you, and it was confirmed that they were the reason you two were in such a bad way."

Astral moved too quickly for a second, and then went to clutch onto her side with one of her arms but found that she couldn't.

"Though, one of the men died. Bite marks to the throat, apparently. You might know something about that, since it was also confirmed that you were the one who bit him."

Her hand was handcuffed to the bed. Why did they do that? She doesn't remember anything… and anything that she could have done would have been purely self-defence… unless…

_Flashback_

"_Hey Miess! How's your Daddy? Oh! My bad! I forgot that he _died_!" Laughter followed the bullies taunt, making a timid looking Astral wince, but she just pretended to ignore them, and moved around some more books in her locker. _

"_He probably offed himself to get away from you, ya' know! I know that I wouldn't want to live with you!" Astral couldn't stop herself from turning around and replying._

"_S-shut up! You don't know anything!" She screamed shakily, her fists balled up and shivering._

"_What did you say, Miess?" The kid growled lowly, standing right in front of her. He wasn't very strong, and Astral could probably fight him if she had the courage._

"_I said-!" She stopped when the bully stepped closer. "N-nothing…" She whimpered._

"_I don't think that it was nothing… What did you say!?" He growled again, shoving her against the lockers. She struggled to get out of his hold, and ended up punching him in the arm. He hit her in return, but she managed to get a couple of steps of freedom before his two friends caught her. She didn't know much after that, besides the fact that they were hospitalised, the main guy with bite marks, and Mr Friston had seen her do something that had apparently frightened him a little bit._

_News had spread, and he nervous kids had become a bit scared of her, while the bullies had made her one of their targets._

_End flashback_

"How's Jack?" She veered the subject away, hoping to find out how badly he had fared.

"Your friend? He lost a lot of blood, an-"

"How?"

"The previous scars he had on his face-"

"No… How… How bad was it?" _'Please don't be bad, please don't be bad, please don't be-'_

"Bad. They were cut open much more roughly than they were last time, and aren't able to heal as well." The Nurse was grateful that she could finally finish her sentence.

"Can you please leave? I need some time to myself…" Astral asked quietly.

"Sure. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Astral was silent as the nurse left, already lost in her own thoughts.

_Oh, Jack._

* * *

**Astral has issues.**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello, once again. I really don't have the time to go through each individual and rely, but I will thank all of you together for your feedback- both positive and negative.**

**Thank you.**

**A couple of flashbacks here, a little bit of a 'fluffy' scene, but no romance -yet-.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The B-man.**

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**Chapter 6**

A cold breeze drifted down the eerie hall, as soft taps echoed around the poorly lit space. A small figure eased it's way down along the wall, brown eyes darting around in search for a particular door.

'_There.'_

The figure winced as a slight creak was heard. It snuck in, gently closing the door behind it, then turned it's attention to a lightly snoring figure on the hospital bed.

Jack was tossing his head from side to side, a nightmare deeming his dream anything but peaceful. A troubled frown pulled at his stitches, and a soft whimper escaped. Astral slowly lifted her hand and brushed away a few strands of hair from his face. Gently resting her palm on his forehead, she noted how warm he was, and opened the window slightly to let some fresh air through. She attempted to swallow a pained cry from the raw agony that screamed through her wounds, but couldn't stop a slight hiss from escaping.

"Astral?" A groggy voice slurred behind her, and she turned to find sleepy eyes watching her with a hint of concern.

"I'm fine..." She managed to ground out between clenched teeth, her hands now clutching her side.

"You're not. Why are you here?" Astral sat down quietly in the chair next to him, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"I couldn't sleep… and I, um…" She turned her head to the side, before she finally finished. "Ikindawantedtoseeyou..." She got out in a quiet jumble, and started to fiddle with her hands.

Jack blinked down at her, one eyebrow raised. "Pardon?"

"I- I kind of wanted to see you…" Astral blushed, looking back down at her hands.

"Missed me that much, huh?" He half-joked, wincing as he opened his mouth a little too much. "You really shouldn't have done what you did back there, Princess… You could have been killed…"

"I wasn't, um, really that aware of what I did… I kind of just did it." Astral then looked up. "And they were hurting you. I couldn't let them do that. Not to mention that I was angry."

"Do you remember what happened?"

Jack's question caught her off guard. "No… I blanked out after I saw them hurting you. There are a couple of little things I can remember, like getting hit, and shot, but apart from that, it's blank."

"Did you know that you actually bit a guy?" Jack said, humour evident in his voice.

"So they told me. He died before anyone got to him. Good. How are we still alive, by the way?"

"The police came, just after you were knocked out. Didn't think that you would be fine with killing anybody, Princess. You okay?"

To be honest, Astral wasn't sure. Her emotions about causing somebody to die were like ingredients taken from completely different parts of a pantry, diced finely, and then tossed into a blender. It turns out that Ice cream and tomato sauce makes a very interesting combination.

In other words, the thought process that she was going through went something along the lines of: _'He was hurting you and Jack so you couldn't have done any different maybe you could have run to get help how the heck could you do such a thing the look on the face of that guy when you bit him was hilarious you are such a horrible person Jack is trying to get your attention and you are ignoring him.'_

"Astral!" Jack half shouts, waving a hand in front of her face. She blinks her eyes wide open, coming out of her daze.

"I'm fine. With killing the guy, I mean." She whispered. "Have… have you ever killed somebody?"

Jack just sighed and looked down. "I'll be honest. Yes, I have. But I haven't killed anybody that didn't deserve it."

"I can hardly think of a single person who is innocent. Everybody deserves it, at least a little bit."

"True, Princess, very true."

They talked on for more than a few hours, quietly going on about anything and everything, keeping each other company in the sleepless hours of the night. A thought suddenly struck Astral.

"Why were they hurting you, Jack?" Astral asked him sadly.

This threw Jack for a loop, as he was right in the middle of talking about the one time he tried to cook. It didn't end very well.

"Remember that party we played pranks at?" Astral nodded at this. "Well… I was supposed to give a guy- A mob boss, some money that my dad owed him… My dad is a really nice guy when he's not drunk, but stress from working in the mob eventually led him to becoming a drunkard. The party we pranked at, the guy who I needed to give the money to was there, but in the middle of all the excitement, forgot."

"Your dad works for the mob!?" Astral exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah, I'm not happy about it either, but I don't get a choice on the matter."

The mob had done so many things that have affected Astral in some way or another, that she had a very steady want to tear each and every one of them apart, very slowly, and very painfully."

Her dad.

_Flashback_

"_Bye dad! I'll see you later!" A much younger cheery Astral waved at her dad, watching as he left for work._

_She turned around, about to skip up the stairs to avoid her mother (who was only creepy and annoying at this point, not yet abusive), when she walked right into her, so she took a step back and apologised. The woman just sneered down at her daughter, with a gleam in her eyes that spoke of a hunger for money and satisfaction in a soon to happen event._

_Seeing the look in her mother's eyes, Astral quickly made for the stairs, her currently blond hair trailing behind her._

_That afternoon, there was a knock on the door, and as Astral went down to see who it was, she heard the sound of her mother crying, but it sounded so fake to her ears._

_She got to the bottom to find her mother sitting on the couch, head in her hands, and two police officers nearby._

"_Wh-what happened?" Astral's eyes were so large and innocent back then, confusion and worry etched onto her childish features._

"_I'm sorry, miss… Your father's body was found dead earlier today. We think it may have been a hit from the mob."_

_End flashback._

Her scar.

_Flashback_

_An older Astral, hair now dyed that same black as her dad's, walked through the kitchen in her home, hearing the sound of two men talking._

'Strange.'

_She entered the living room to find two men with neatly pressed suits sitting on the couch, their faces recognisable from newspapers that she'd heard. Carmine Falcone and Achille Maroni, the two most well-known men in the crime world._

"_What are you doing here!?" Astral shouted._

"_No need to get so worked up about anything, Ms Miess. We're only here to do business with your mother." Falcone said calmly._

_Astral, not being in the best state of mind, ran to the nearest phone to catch the police. A hand grabbed her arm and turned her around, Maroni sneering down at her livid face._

"_You know, you'd think that you ought to be sad about your daddy's death. You should be crying. I'll see to that."_

_As much as she tried to struggle, Astral couldn't escape the grip that the man had on her, as he brought the tip of the knife to the spot under her eye, and she stilled, preferring not to have one less eye. Achille dug the knife in and slowly brought it down to make it look like she was crying._

"_There, how sad you look. No need to be upset, Astral." He mocked._

_It was then her mother walked in, not even paying attention to her bleeding daughter, leaving her to call an ambulance while she talked to the men._

_End flashback._

Now they were hurting Jack in more way then one.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as the door creaked open, and a nurse walked into the room.

"Ms Miess! You should be in bed. Come now, you can talk to him in the morning."

As Astral was led away, all she could think was the bizarre thought of Jack in a nurse's outfit.

'_Dear sanity, I hope you are having a lovely holiday. Please come back soon. –Astral'_

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**Do you guys want the truth? Here it is:**

**I'm mostly making this up as I go. I have a rough idea for a story line, but apart from that, I just type off the top of my head.**

**I plan on re-writing at least the first three chapters after this, because those were mostly me playing around with things and figuring out how this would go. Not to mention that I believe I have improved a fair bit since then. But they are also really, really, horrible. I cannot deny that fact.**

**Later! -Midnight**


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